Epithalamion by Edmund Spenser – Summary, Analysis & Critical Appreciation
Epithalamion by Edmund Spenser
Epithalamion is an ode written as the finale of Amoretti, commemorates Spenser’s marriage to Elizabeth Boyle, daughter of James Boyle, the relation of Earl of Cork, Richard Boyle, on June 11, 1594. The music begins before sunrise and continues through the wedding ceremony and into the newlywed couple’s consummation night.
Throughout Epithalamion, the speaker marks time by referring to the physical movements of the bridal party, the locations of the sun and other heavenly bodies, and the light and darkness that fill the day.
Although strongly rooted in the classical tradition, Epithalamion borrows its setting and several of its images from Ireland, the location of Edmund Spenser’s wedding to Elizabeth Boyle. Some commentators regard this Irish connection as a reflection within the poem on the correct relationship between ruling England (the groom) and subject Ireland (the bride). Spenser’s affection for the Irish countryside is evident in his vivid descriptions of the natural world around the couple, while his political ideas on English supremacy are hinted at in the bond between the bride and groom themselves.
Other scholars have seen Spenser’s gift to his bride as a literary argument for the kind of husband-wife relationship he intends the two of them to have, rather than a celebration of their wedding day.
Summary of Epithalamion ( Stanza Wise)
Edmund Spenser wrote Epithalamion as a wedding gift for his bride, Elizabeth Boyle. The poem follows the couple’s wedding day from the groom’s eager hours before dawn to the late hours of the night after the husband and wife have consummated their marriage. Spenser’s representation of time as it passes is systematic, both in the factual chronological sense and in the subjective sense of time as perceived by those waiting in expectancy or fear.
This ode, like most classically-inspired works, begins with an invocation to the Muses to assist the groom; but, in this case, they are to assist him in awakening his bride, not in creating his literary work. Then there is an increasing procession of figures attempting to bestir the bride from her bed. When the sun rises, the bride finally awakens and begins her procession to the bridal bower. She arrives at the “temple” is married, and then there is a celebration. Almost immediately, the groom wishes for everyone to go and the day to be cut short so that he can enjoy the ecstasy of his wedding night. When night falls, however, the groom’s thoughts turn to the fruit of their union, praying to various gods that his new wife’s womb will be fertile and deliver him several offspring.
1st Stanza
Ye learned sisters which have oftentimes
Beene to me ayding, others to adorne:
Whom ye thought worthy of your gracefull rymes,
That even the greatest did not greatly scorne
To heare theyr names sung in your simple layes,
But joyed in theyr prayse.
And when ye list your owne mishaps to mourne,
Which death, or love, or fortunes wreck did rayse,
Your string could soone to sadder tenor turne,
And teach the woods and waters to lament
Your dolefull dreriment.
Now lay those sorrowfull complaints aside,
And having all your heads with girland crownd,
Helpe me mine owne loves prayses to resound,
Ne let the same of any be envide:
So Orpheus did for his owne bride,
So I unto my selfe alone will sing,
The woods shall to me answer and my Eccho ring.
The groom invokes the muses to inspire him to correctly laud the praises of his beloved bride. He claims he will sing to himself “as Orpheus did for his own bride.” This stanza, like the majority of the subsequent stanzas, concludes with the refrain “The woods shall to me answer and my Eccho ring.”
Analysis
In the tradition of classical authors, the poet invokes the muses to inspire him. Unlike many poets who invoked a single muse, Spenser invokes all the muses here, implying that his subject necessitates a wide variety of mythic inspiration. The reference to Orpheus is an allusion to that hero’s seduction of his bride’s spirit from the realm of the dead using his lovely music; the groom, too, intends to awaken his bride from her slumber, leading her into the light of their wedding day.
2nd Stanza
Early before the worlds light giving lampe,
His golden beame upon the hils doth spred,
Having disperst the nights unchearefull dampe,
Doe ye awake, and with fresh lusty hed,
Go to the bowre of my beloved love,
My truest turtle dove,
Bid her awake; for Hymen is awake,
And long since ready forth his maske to move,
With his bright Tead that flames with many a flake,
And many a bachelor to waite on him,
In theyr fresh garments trim.
Bid her awake therefore and soone her dight,
For lo the wished day is come at last,
That shall for al the paynes and sorrowes past,
Pay to her usury of long delight:
And whylest she doth her dight,
Doe ye to her of joy and solace sing,
That all the woods may answer and your eccho ring.
Before dawn, the groom summons the muses to his beloved’s bower in order to rouse her. Hymen, the deity of marriage, is already awake, and so should the bride. The groom begs the muses to remind his bride that today is her wedding day, a day that will bring her great joy for all the “paynes and sorrowes past.”
Analysis
Another classical figure, Hymen, is mentioned here, and not for the first time. If the god of marriage is ready, and the groom is ready, he expects his wife to be ready as well. The emphasis is on the sacredness of the wedding day, which should entice the bride to attend as soon as feasible. It is the marriage ceremony, not the bride (or groom), that determines what is necessary in this case.
3rd stanza
Bring with you all the Nymphes that you can heare
Both of the rivers and the forrests greene:
And of the sea that neighbours to her neare,
Al with gay girlands goodly wel beseene.
And let them also with them bring in hand
Another gay girland
For my fayre love of lillyes and of roses,
Bound truelove wize with a blew silke riband.
And let them make great store of bridale poses,
And let them eeke bring store of other flowers
To deck the bridale bowers.
And let the ground whereas her foot shall tread,
For feare the stones her tender foot should wrong
Be strewed with fragrant flowers all along,
And diapred lyke the discolored mead.
Which done, doe at her chamber dore awayt,
For she will waken strayt,
The whiles doe ye this song unto her sing,
The woods shall to you answer and your Eccho ring.
The groom orders the muses to call all the nymphs they can to join them to the bridal chamber. On their way, they are to collect all the fragrant flowers they can and decorate the route leading from the “bridal bower,” where the marriage ceremony will take place, to the entrance of the bride’s chambers. If they do, she will walk from her accommodations to the wedding location solely on flowers. Their music will awaken the bride as they decorate her doorstep with flowers.
Analysis
With the summoning of the nymphs, this celebration of Christian nuptials becomes firmly rooted in Greek mythology. There is no more pagan image than these nature-spirits strewing the ground with varied flowers to create a beautiful path from the bride’s bedchamber to the wedding bower. Although Spenser will later establish Protestant marriage ideals, he has opted to welcome the wedding day dawn with the spirits of ancient paganism instead.
4th Stanza
Ye Nymphes of Mulla which with carefull heed,
The silver scaly trouts doe tend full well,
And greedy pikes which use therein to feed,
(Those trouts and pikes all others doo excell)
And ye likewise which keepe the rushy lake,
Where none doo fishes take,
Bynd up the locks the which hang scatterd light,
And in his waters which your mirror make,
Behold your faces as the christall bright,
That when you come whereas my love doth lie,
No blemish she may spie.
And eke ye lightfoot mayds which keepe the deere,
That on the hoary mountayne use to towre,
And the wylde wolves which seeke them to devoure,
With your steele darts doo chace from comming neer,
Be also present heere,
To helpe to decke her and to help to sing,
That all the woods may answer and your eccho ring.
Addressing the numerous nymphs of other natural settings, the groom requests that they tend to their speciality in order to make the wedding day ideal. The nymphs who care about the ponds and lakes should ensure that the water is pure and free of lively fish so that they can see their own reflections in it and thus best prepare themselves to be seen by the bride. The nymphs of the mountains and woods who keep deer safe from ravening wolves should use their skills to keep these same wolves away from the bride on her wedding day. Both groups are expected to be present to help beautify the wedding venue with their beauty.
Analysis
Spenser expands on the nymph-summoning of Stanza 3 in this section. The fact that he emphasises on the two parties’ capacities to prevent disruptions suggests that he anticipated some misfortune attending the wedding. It is unclear whether this is typical “wedding day jitters” or more politically motivated anxiety about the subject of Irish uprisings, although the wolves mentioned would come from the same place. Irish resistance groups used to mask their movements and attack at the invading English with impunity.
5th Stanza
Wake, now my love, awake; for it is time,
The Rosy Morne long since left Tithones bed,
All ready to her silver coche to clyme,
And Phoebus gins to shew his glorious hed.
Hark how the cheerefull birds do chaunt theyr laies
And carroll of loves praise.
The merry Larke hir mattins sings aloft,
The thrush replyes, the Mavis descant playes,
The Ouzell shrills, the Ruddock warbles soft,
So goodly all agree with sweet consent,
To this dayes merriment.
Ah my deere love why doe ye sleepe thus long,
When meeter were that ye should now awake,
T'awayt the comming of your joyous make,
And hearken to the birds lovelearned song,
The deawy leaves among.
For they of joy and pleasance to you sing,
That all the woods them answer and theyr eccho ring.
The groom now addresses his bride personally in order to persuade her to wake up. Sunrise has long passed, and Phoebus, the sun god, is displaying “his glorious hed.” The birds are already singing, and the groom argues that their song is a joyful invitation to the bride.
Analysis
The mythical characters of Rosy Dawn, Tithones, and Phoebus are invoked here to continue the ode’s classical theme. So far, its content is indistinguishable from that of a pagan wedding hymn. The fact that the groom must address his bride directly illustrates both his impatience and the ineffectiveness of relying on the muses and nymphs to fetch the bride.
6th stanza
My love is now awake out of her dreames,
And her fayre eyes like stars that dimmed were
With darksome cloud, now shew theyr goodly beames
More bright then Hesperus his head doth rere.
Come now ye damzels, daughters of delight,
Helpe quickly her to dight,
But first come ye fayre houres which were begot
In Joves sweet paradice, of Day and Night,
Which doe the seasons of the yeare allot,
And al that ever in this world is fayre
Doe make and still repayre.
And ye three handmayds of the Cyprian Queene,
The which doe still adorne her beauties pride,
Helpe to addorne my beautifullest bride:
And as ye her array, still throw betweene
Some graces to be seene,
And as ye use to Venus, to her sing,
The whiles the woods shal answer and your eccho ring.
The bride has finally awoken, and her eyes have been compared to the sun with their “goodly beams/More bright than Hesperus.” The groom invites the “daughters of delight” to attend to the bride, but also the Hours of Day and Night, the Seasons, and the “three handmayds” of Venus. He encourages the latter to do for his wife what they do for Venus: sing to her as she dresses for her wedding.
Analysis
There is second daybreak here when the “darksome cloud” is lifted from the bride’s face and her eyes are free to shine in all their splendour. The “daughters of delight” are the nymphs, who are still exhorted to attend on the wedding, but Spenser introduces the personifications of time in the hours that make up Day, Night, and the seasons. He will return to this time motif later, but it is crucial to note that here he views time itself participating in the marriage ritual as much as the nymphs and handmaids of Venus.
7th Stanza
Now is my love all ready forth to come,
Let all the virgins therefore well awayt,
And ye fresh boyes that tend upon her groome
Prepare your selves; for he is comming strayt.
Set all your things in seemely good aray
Fit for so joyfull day,
The joyfulst day that ever sunne did see.
Faire Sun, shew forth thy favourable ray,
And let thy lifull heat not fervent be
For feare of burning her sunshyny face,
Her beauty to disgrace.
O fayrest Phoebus, father of the Muse,
If ever I did honour thee aright,
Or sing the thing, that mote thy mind delight,
Doe not thy servants simple boone refuse,
But let this day let this one day be myne,
Let all the rest be thine.
Then I thy soverayne prayses loud will sing,
That all the woods shal answer and theyr eccho ring.
The bride is ready with her attendant virgins, so now it is time for the groomsmen and the groom himself to prepare. The groom implores the sun to shine brightly, but not hotly lest it burns his bride’s fair skin. He then prays to Phoebus, who is both sun-god and originator of the arts, to give this one day of the year to him while keeping the rest for himself. He offers to exchange his own poetry as an offering for this great favour.
Analysis
The theme of light as both a sign of joy and an image of creative prowess begins to be developed here, as the groom addresses Phoebus. Spenser refers again to his own poetry as a worthy offering to the god of poetry and the arts, which he believes has earned him the favour of having this one day belong to himself rather than to the sun-god.
8th Stanza
Harke how the Minstrels gin to shrill aloud
Their merry Musick that resounds from far,
The pipe, the tabor, and the trembling Croud,
That well agree withouten breach or jar.
But most of all the Damzels doe delite,
When they their tymbrels smyte,
And thereunto doe daunce and carrol sweet,
That all the sences they doe ravish quite,
The whyles the boyes run up and downe the street,
Crying aloud with strong confused noyce,
As if it were one voyce.
Hymen io Hymen, Hymen they do shout,
That even to the heavens theyr shouting shrill
Doth reach, and all the firmament doth fill,
To which the people standing all about,
As in approvance doe thereto applaud
And loud advaunce her laud,
And evermore they Hymen Hymen sing,
That al the woods them answer and theyr eccho ring.
The mortal wedding guests and entertainment move into action. The minstrels play their music and sing, while women play their timbrels and dance. Young boys run throughout the streets crying the wedding song “Hymen io Hymen, Hymen” for all to hear. Those hearing the cries applaud the boys and join in with the song.
Analysis
Spenser shifts to the real-world participants in the wedding ceremony, the entertainment and possible guests. He describes a typical Elizabethan wedding complete with elements harking back to classical times. The boys’ song “Hymen io Hymen, Hymen” can be traced back to Greece, with its delivery by Gaius Valerius Catullus in the first century B.C.
9th Stanza
Loe where she comes along with portly pace
Lyke Phoebe from her chamber of the East,
Arysing forth to run her mighty race,
Clad all in white, that seemes a virgin best.
So well it her beseemes that ye would weene
Some angell she had beene.
Her long loose yellow locks lyke golden wyre,
Sprinckled with perle, and perling flowres a tweene,
Doe lyke a golden mantle her attyre,
And being crowned with a girland greene,
Seeme lyke some mayden Queene.
Her modest eyes abashed to behold
So many gazers, as on her do stare,
Upon the lowly ground affixed are.
Ne dare lift up her countenance too bold,
But blush to heare her prayses sung so loud,
So farre from being proud.
Nathlesse doe ye still loud her prayses sing,
That all the woods may answer and your eccho ring.
The groom beholds his bride approaching and compares her to Phoebe (another name for Artemis, goddess of the moon) clad in white “that seems a virgin best.” He finds her white attire so appropriate that she seems more angel than woman. In modesty, she avoids the gaze of the myriad admirers and blushes at the songs of praise she is receiving.
Analysis
This unusual stanza has a “missing line”– a break after the ninth line of the stanza (line 156). The structure probably plays into Spenser’s greater organization of lines and meter, which echo the hours of the day with great mathematical precision. There is no aesthetic reason within the stanza for the break, as it takes place three lines before the verses describing the bride’s own reaction to her admirers. The comparison to Phoebe, twin sister of Phoebus, is significant since the groom has essentially bargained to take Phoebus’ place of prominence this day two stanzas ago. He sees the bride as a perfect, even divine, counterpart to himself this day, as Day and Night are inextricably linked in the passage of time.
10th Stanza
Tell me ye merchants daughters did ye see
So fayre a creature in your towne before?
So sweet, so lovely, and so mild as she,
Adornd with beautyes grace and vertues store,
Her goodly eyes lyke Saphyres shining bright,
Her forehead yvory white,
Her cheekes lyke apples which the sun hath rudded,
Her lips lyke cherryes charming men to byte,
Her brest like to a bowle of creame uncrudded,
Her paps lyke lyllies budded,
Her snowie necke lyke to a marble towre,
And all her body like a pallace fayre,
Ascending uppe with many a stately stayre,
To honors seat and chastities sweet bowre.
Why stand ye still ye virgins in amaze,
Upon her so to gaze,
Whiles ye forget your former lay to sing,
To which the woods did answer and your eccho ring.
The groom asks the women who see his bride if they have ever seen anyone so beautiful in their town before. He then launches into a list of all her virtues, starting with her eyes and eventually describing her whole body. The bride’s overwhelming beauty causes the maidens to forget their song to stare at her.
Analysis
Spenser engages the blason convention, in which a woman’s physical features are picked out and described in metaphorical terms. Unlike his blasons in Amoretti, this listing has no overarching connection among the various metaphors. Her eyes and forehead are described in terms of valuable items (sapphires and ivory), her cheeks and lips compared to fruit (apples and cherries), her breast is compared to a bowl of cream, her nipples to the buds of lilies, her neck to an ivory tower, and her whole body compared to a beautiful palace.
11th Stanza
But if ye saw that which no eyes can see,
The inward beauty of her lively spright,
Garnisht with heavenly guifts of high degree,
Much more then would ye wonder at that sight,
And stand astonisht lyke to those which red
Medusaes mazeful hed.
There dwels sweet love and constant chastity,
Unspotted fayth and comely womenhed,
Regard of honour and mild modesty,
There vertue raynes as Queene in royal throne,
And giveth lawes alone.
The which the base affections doe obay,
And yeeld theyr services unto her will,
Ne thought of thing uncomely ever may
Thereto approch to tempt her mind to ill.
Had ye once seene these her celestial threasures,
And unrevealed pleasures,
Then would ye wonder and her prayses sing,
That al the woods should answer and your eccho ring.e groom moves from the external beauty of the bride to her internal beauty, which he claims to see better than anyone else. He praises her lively spirit, her sweet love, her chastity, her faith, her honour, and her modesty. He insists that could her observers see her inner beauty, they would be far more awestruck by it than they already are by her outward appearance.
Analysis
Although not a blason like the last stanza, this set of verses is nonetheless a catalogue of the bride’s inner virtues. Spenser moves for a moment away from the emphasis on outward beauty so prominent in this ode and in pagan marriage ceremonies, turning instead to his other classical influence: Platonism. He describes the ideal woman, unsullied by fleshly weakness or stray thoughts. Could the attendants see her true beauty–her absolute beauty– they would be astonished like those who saw “Medusaes mazeful hed” and were turned to stone.
12th Stanza
Open the temple gates unto my love,
Open them wide that she may enter in,
And all the postes adorne as doth behove,
And all the pillours deck with girlands trim,
For to recyve this Saynt with honour dew,
That commeth in to you.
With trembling steps and humble reverence,
She commeth in, before th'almighties vew:
Of her ye virgins learne obedience,
When so ye come into those holy places,
To humble your proud faces;
Bring her up to th'high altar that she may,
The sacred ceremonies there partake,
The which do endlesse matrimony make,
And let the roring Organs loudly play
The praises of the Lord in lively notes,
The whiles with hollow throates
The Choristers the joyous Antheme sing,
That al the woods may answere and their eccho ring.
The groom calls for the doors to the temple to be opened that his bride may enter in and approach the altar in reverence. He offers his bride as an example for the observing maidens to follow, for she approaches this holy place with reverence and humility.
Analysis
Spenser shifts the imagery from that of a pagan wedding ceremony, in which the bride would be escorted to the groom’s house for the wedding, to a Protestant one taking place in a church. The bride enters in as a “Saynt” in the sense that she is a good Protestant Christian, and she approaches this holy place with the appropriate humility. No mention of Hymen or Phoebus is made; instead, the bride approaches “before th’ almighties vew.” The minstrels have now become “Choristers” singing “praises of the Lord” to the accompaniment of organs.
13th Stanza
Behold whiles she before the altar stands
Hearing the holy priest that to her speakes
And blesseth her with his two happy hands,
How the red roses flush up in her cheekes,
And the pure snow with goodly vermill stayne,
Like crimsin dyde in grayne,
That even th'Angels which continually,
About the sacred Altare doe remaine,
Forget their service and about her fly,
Ofte peeping in her face that seemes more fayre,
The more they on it stare.
But her sad eyes still fastened on the ground,
Are governed with goodly modesty,
That suffers not one looke to glaunce awry,
Which may let in a little thought unsownd.
Why blush ye love to give to me your hand,
The pledge of all our band?
Sing ye sweet Angels, Alleluya sing,
That all the woods may answere and your eccho ring.
The bride stands before the altar as the priest offers his blessing upon her and upon the marriage. She blushes, causing the angels to forget their duties and encircle her, while the groom wonders why she should blush to give him her hand in marriage.
Analysis
Now firmly entrenched in the Christian wedding ceremony, the poem dwells upon the bride’s reaction to the priest’s blessing, and the groom’s reaction to his bride’s response. Her blush sends him toward another song about her beauty, but he hesitates to commit wholly to that. A shadow of doubt crosses his mind, as he describes her downcast eyes as “sad” and wonders why making a pledge to marry him should make her blush.
14th Stanza
Now al is done; bring home the bride againe,
Bring home the triumph of our victory,
Bring home with you the glory of her gaine,
With joyance bring her and with jollity.
Never had man more joyfull day then this,
Whom heaven would heape with blis.
Make feast therefore now all this live long day,
This day for ever to me holy is,
Poure out the wine without restraint or stay,
Poure not by cups, but by the belly full,
Poure out to all that wull,
And sprinkle all the postes and wals with wine,
That they may sweat, and drunken be withall.
Crowne ye God Bacchus with a coronall,
And Hymen also crowne with wreathes of vine,
And let the Graces daunce unto the rest;
For they can doo it best:
The whiles the maydens doe theyr carroll sing,
To which the woods shal answer and theyr eccho ring.
The Christian part of the wedding ceremony is over, and the groom asks that the bride to be brought home again and the celebration to start. He calls for feasting and drinking, turning his attention from the “almighty” God of the church to the “God Bacchus,” Hymen, and the Graces.
Analysis
Spenser slips easily away from the Protestant wedding ceremony back to the pagan revelries. Forgotten is the bride’s humility at the altar of the Christian God. Instead, he crowns Bacchus, god of wine and revelry, and Hymen was requesting the Graces to dance. Now he wants to celebrate his “triumph” with wine “poured out without restraint or stay” and libations to the aforementioned gods. He considers this day to be holy for himself, perhaps seeing it as an answer to his previous imprecation to Phoebus that this day belongs to him alone.
15th Stanza
Ring ye the bels, ye yong men of the towne,
And leave your wonted labors for this day:
This day is holy; doe ye write it downe,
That ye for ever it remember may.
This day the sunne is in his chiefest hight,
With Barnaby the bright,
From whence declining daily by degrees,
He somewhat loseth of his heat and light,
When once the Crab behind his back he sees.
But for this time it ill ordained was,
To chose the longest day in all the yeare,
And shortest night, when longest fitter weare:
Yet never day so long, but late would passe.
Ring ye the bels, to make it weare away,
And bonefiers make all day,
And daunce about them, and about them sing:
That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring.
The groom reiterates his affirmation that this day is holy and calls everyone to celebrate in response to the ringing bells. He exults that the sun is so bright and the day so beautiful, then changes his tone to regret as he realizes his wedding is taking place on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and so his nighttime nuptial bliss will be delayed all the longer, yet last only briefly.
Analysis
By identifying the exact day of the wedding (the summer solstice, June 20), Spenser allows the reader to fit this poetic description of the ceremony into a real, historical context. As some critics have noted, a timeline of the day superimposed over the verse structure of the entire ode produces an accurate, line-by-line account of the various astronomical events (sunrise, the position of the stars, sunset).
16th Stanza
Ah when will this long weary day have end,
And lende me leave to come unto my love?
How slowly do the houres theyr numbers spend?
How slowly does sad Time his feathers move?
Hast thee O fayrest Planet to thy home
Within the Westerne fome:
Thy tyred steedes long since have need of rest.
Long though it be, at last I see it gloome,
And the bright evening star with golden creast
Appeare out of the East.
Fayre childe of beauty, glorious lampe of love
That all the host of heaven in rankes doost lead,
And guydest lovers through the nightes dread,
How chearefully thou lookest from above,
And seemst to laugh atweene thy twinkling light
As joying in the sight
Of these glad many which for joy doe sing,
That all the woods them answer and their echo ring.
The groom continues his frustrated complaint that the day is too long, but grows hopeful as at long last the evening begins its arrival. Seeing the evening start in the East, he addresses it as “Fayre childe of beauty, glorious lampe of loue,” urging it to come forward and hasten the time for the newlyweds to consummate their marriage.
Analysis
Again focused on time, the speaker here is able to draw hope from the approach of twilight. He is eager to be alone with his bride, and so invokes the evening star to lead the bride and groom to their bed-chamber.
17th Stanza
Now ceasse ye damsels your delights forepast;
Enough is it, that all the day was youres:
Now day is doen, and night is nighing fast:
Now bring the Bryde into the brydall boures.
Now night is come, now soone her disaray,
And in her bed her lay;
Lay her in lillies and in violets,
And silken courteins over her display,
And odourd sheetes, and Arras coverlets.
Behold how goodly my faire love does ly
In proud humility;
Like unto Maia, when as Jove her tooke,
In Tempe, lying on the flowry gras,
Twixt sleepe and wake, after she weary was,
With bathing in the Acidalian brooke.
Now it is night, ye damsels may be gon,
And leave my love alone,
And leave likewise your former lay to sing:
The woods no more shal answere, nor your echo ring.
The groom urges the singers and dancers to leave the wedding, but take the bride to her bed as they depart. He is eager to be alone with his bride and compares the sight of her lying in bed to that of Maia, the mountain goddess with whom Zeus conceived Hermes.
Analysis
The comparison to Zeus and Maia is significant in that it foreshadows another desire of the groom, procreation. Besides being eager to make love to his new bride, the speaker is also hoping to conceive a child. According to legend and tradition, a child conceived on the summer solstice would grow into prosperity and wisdom, so the connection to the specific day of the wedding cannot be ignored.
18th Stanza
Now welcome night, thou night so long expected,
That long daies labour doest at last defray,
And all my cares, which cruell love collected,
Hast sumd in one, and cancelled for aye:
Spread thy broad wing over my love and me,
That no man may us see,
And in thy sable mantle us enwrap,
From feare of perrill and foule horror free.
Let no false treason seeke us to entrap,
Nor any dread disquiet once annoy
The safety of our joy:
But let the night be calme and quietsome,
Without tempestuous storms or sad afray:
Lyke as when Jove with fayre Alcmena lay,
When he begot the great Tirynthian groome:
Or lyke as when he with thy selfe did lie,
And begot Majesty.
And let the mayds and yongmen cease to sing:
Ne let the woods them answer, nor theyr eccho ring.
Night has come at last, and the groom asks Night to cover and protect them. He makes another comparison to mythology, this time Zeus’ affair with Alcmene and his affair with Night herself.
Analysis
Here again, Spenser uses a classical allusion to Zeus, mentioning not only the woman with whom Zeus had relations but also their offspring. Alcmene was a daughter of Pleiades and, through Zeus, became the mother of Hercules. The focus has almost shifted away from the bride or the act of consummation to the potential child that may come of this union.
19th Stanza
Let no lamenting cryes, nor dolefull teares,
Be heard all night within nor yet without:
Ne let false whispers, breeding hidden feares,
Breake gentle sleepe with misconceived dout.
Let no deluding dreames, nor dreadful sights
Make sudden sad affrights;
Ne let housefyres, nor lightnings helpelesse harmes,
Ne let the Pouke, nor other evill sprights,
Ne let mischivous witches with theyr charmes,
Ne let hob Goblins, names whose sence we see not,
Fray us with things that be not.
Let not the shriech Oule, nor the Storke be heard:
Nor the night Raven that still deadly yels,
Nor damned ghosts cald up with mighty spels,
Nor griesly vultures make us once affeard:
Ne let th'unpleasant Quyre of Frogs still croking
Make us to wish theyr choking.
Let none of these theyr drery accents sing;
Ne let the woods them answer, nor theyr eccho ring.
The groom prays that no evil spirits or bad thoughts would reach the newlyweds this night. The entire stanza is a list of possible dangers he pleads to leave them alone.
Analysis
At the moment the bride and groom are finally alone, the speaker shifts into an almost hysterical litany of fears and dreads. From false whispers and doubts, he declines into superstitious fear of witches, “hob Goblins,” ghosts, and vultures, among others. Although some of these night-terrors have analogues in Greek mythology, many of them come from the folklore of the Irish countryside. Spenser reminds himself and his readers that, as a landed Englishman on Irish soil, there is danger yet present for him, even on his wedding night.
20th Stanza
But let stil Silence trew night watches keepe,
That sacred peace may in assurance rayne,
And tymely sleep, when it is tyme to sleepe,
May poure his limbs forth on your pleasant playne,
The whiles an hundred little winged loves,
Like divers fethered doves,
Shall fly and flutter round about your bed,
And in the secret darke, that none reproves,
Their prety stelthes shal worke, and snares shal spread
To filch away sweet snatches of delight,
Conceald through covert night.
Ye sonnes of Venus, play your sports at will,
For greedy pleasure, carelesse of your toyes,
Thinks more upon her paradise of joyes,
Then what ye do, albe it good or ill.
All night therefore attend your merry play,
For it will soone be day:
Now none doth hinder you, that say or sing,
Ne will the woods now answer, nor your Eccho ring.
The groom bids silence to prevail and sleep to come when it is the proper time. Until then, he encourages the “hundred little winged loues” to fly about the bed. These tiny Cupids are to enjoy themselves as much as possible until daybreak.
Analysis
The poet turns back to enjoying his beloved bride, invoking the “sonnes of Venus” to play throughout the night. While he recognizes that sleep can and must come eventually, he hopes to enjoy these “little loves” with his bride as much as possible.
21st Stanza
Who is the same, which at my window peepes?
Or whose is that faire face, that shines so bright,
Is it not Cinthia, she that never sleepes,
But walkes about high heaven al the night?
O fayrest goddesse, do thou not envy
My love with me to spy:
For thou likewise didst love, though now unthought,
And for a fleece of woll, which privily,
The Latmian shephard once unto thee brought,
His pleasures with thee wrought.
Therefore to us be favorable now;
And sith of wemens labours thou hast charge,
And generation goodly dost enlarge,
Encline thy will t'effect our wishfull vow,
And the chast wombe informe with timely seed,
That may our comfort breed:
Till which we cease our hopefull hap to sing,
Ne let the woods us answere, nor our Eccho ring.
The groom notices Cinthia, the moon, peering through his window and prays to her for a favourable wedding night. He specifically asks that she make his bride’s “chaste womb” fertile this night.
Analysis
Spenser continues his prayer for conception, this time addressing Cinthia, the moon. He asks her to remember her own love of the “Latmian Shephard” Endymion–a union that eventually produced fifty daughters, the phases of the moon. He specifically calls a successful conception “our comfort,” placing his emotional emphasis upon the fruit of the union above the act of the union itself. The impatient lover of the earlier stanzas has become the would-be father looking for completion in a future generation.
22nd Stanza
And thou great Juno, which with awful might
The lawes of wedlock still dost patronize,
And the religion of the faith first plight
With sacred rites hast taught to solemnize:
And eeke for comfort often called art
Of women in their smart,
Eternally bind thou this lovely band,
And all thy blessings unto us impart.
And thou glad Genius, in whose gentle hand,
The bridale bowre and geniall bed remaine,
Without blemish or staine,
And the sweet pleasures of theyr loves delight
With secret ayde doest succour and supply,
Till they bring forth the fruitfull progeny,
Send us the timely fruit of this same night.
And thou fayre Hebe, and thou Hymen free,
Grant that it may so be.
Til which we cease your further prayse to sing,
Ne any woods shal answer, nor your Eccho ring.
The groom adds more deities to his list of patrons. He asks Juno, wife of Zeus and goddess of marriage, to make their union strong and sacred, then turns her attention toward making it fruitful. So, too, he asks Hebe and Hymen to do the same for them.
Analysis
While asking Juno to bless the marriage, the speaker cannot refrain from asking for progeny. So, too, he invokes Hebe (goddess of youth) and Hymen to make their wedding night one of fortunate conception as well as wedded bliss. While he does return to the hope or prayer that the marriage will remain pure, the speaker still places conception as the highest priority of the night.
23rd Stanza
And ye high heavens, the temple of the gods,
In which a thousand torches flaming bright
Doe burne, that to us wretched earthly clods,
In dreadful darknesse lend desired light;
And all ye powers which in the same remayne,
More then we men can fayne,
Poure out your blessing on us plentiously,
And happy influence upon us raine,
That we may raise a large posterity,
Which from the earth, which they may long possesse,
With lasting happinesse,
Up to your haughty pallaces may mount,
And for the guerdon of theyr glorious merit
May heavenly tabernacles there inherit,
Of blessed Saints for to increase the count.
So let us rest, sweet love, in hope of this,
And cease till then our tymely joyes to sing,
The woods no more us answer, nor our eccho ring.
The groom utters an all-encompassing prayer to all the gods in the heavens, that they might bless this marriage. He asks them to give him “large posterity” that he may raise generations of followers to ascend to the heavens in praise of the gods. He then encourages his bride to rest in hope of their becoming parents.
Analysis
Spenser brings this ode to a major climax, calling upon all the gods in the heavens to bear witness and shower their blessings upon the couple. He states in no uncertain terms that the blessing he would have is progeny–he wishes nothing other than to have a child from this union. In a typical pagan bargaining convention, the speaker assures the gods that if they give him children, these future generations will venerate the gods and fill the earth with “Saints.”
24th Stanza
Song made in lieu of many ornaments,
With which my love should duly have bene dect,
Which cutting off through hasty accidents,
Ye would not stay your dew time to expect,
But promist both to recompens,
Be unto her a goodly ornament,
And for short time an endlesse moniment.
The groom addresses his song with the charge to be a “goodly ornament” for his bride, whom he feels deserves many physical adornments as well. Time was too short to procure these outward decorations for his beloved, so the groom hopes his ode will be an “endlesse moniment” to her.
Analysis
Spenser follows Elizabeth’s convention in returning to a self-conscious meditation upon his ode itself. He asks that this ode, which he is forced to give her in place of the many ornaments which his bride should have had, will become an altogether greater adornment for her. He paradoxically asks that it be a “for short time” and “endless” monument for her, drawing the reader’s attention back to the contrast between earthly time, which eventually runs out, and eternity, which lasts forever in a state of perfection.
Critical Appreciation of Epithalamion
Spenser’s masterpiece, Epithalamion, recalls the magnificence of The Faerie Queene and is the best poem in the English language. Spenser offers a rich celebration of life and living in it. According to Arnold Sanders of Goucher College, its form is the kind of wedding song developed in Latin, such as Catullus, and sung by a choir accompanying the bride and groom to the groom’s home. It is divided into 23 stanzas of 18 lines each with a different rhyme pattern, with a concluding envoy. Each stanza corresponds to the hours of Midsummer’s Day, as illustrated by A. Kent Hieatt.
Each stanza contains a repetition, six of which, according to John B. Lord, repeat one version or another, resulting in 17 variations to the refrain in which the “echo” resonates from morning to night and to quiet. There are 365 long lines and 68 short lines on the grid. The lengthy lines represent the days of the year (365). The short lines represent the number of weeks in a year (52), multiplied by the number of months in a year (12), multiplied by the number of seasons in a year (4): 52 + 12 + 4 = 68. This intricate calendar (perhaps influenced by his earlier The Shepherd’s Calendar(1579)) is a thematic element.
Spenser employs prominent literary devices such as allusion and conventional motifs. Spenser combines classical Pagan allusions (“And thou great Juno, which with awful might…”) with Christian feeling, continuing an allusion tradition began by Chaucer in English vernacular works (“Of blessed Saints for to increase the count”). Arnold Sanders describes a conventional theme used in the envoy (427-433), which adapts the French “devouring time” motif: “…short time an endlesse moniment.” Spenser writes. Shakespeare later uses and expands on the “devouring time” metaphor (Sonnet 18).
One of the topics in Epithalamion is related to its calendrical structure. The 365 long lines (days) symbolise our everyday experience of existence and living. The 68 short lines (weeks, months, seasons) depict our organisational and cyclical existence and living experience: We measure and designate by weeks; we grow and wane, fortunes and happinesses rise and fall, with the seasons of the year and of our life.
Epithalamion, written as the finale of Amoretti, commemorates Spenser’s marriage to Elizabeth Boyle, daughter of James Boyle, the relation of Earl of Cork, Richard Boyle, on June 11, 1594.
Amoretti narrates their relationship, her disinterest (which she finally overcomes), a breakup, a reunion, and an engagement.
Epithalamion is the conclusion of the storey that began in Amoretti.
When he met Elizabeth, the first three books of The Faerie Queene had just been released.
Amoretti and Epithalamion span the years 1591-1594, and both were published in 1595.
The summary is provided by the major structure. Spenser/the speaker is alone before the wedding and feast that he is looking forward to. He invites the muses and all the guests, from deity to friends to neighbours, to the wedding and feast. The bride arrives with her wedding train, the ceremony is performed, and the feast begins. The groom encourages loud and cheerful mirth until the time comes for them to leave, at which point he bids them farewell. They gradually leave, ushering in a transition from public to private lives for the bride and groom. He then greets Night, the Moon, and Silence, requesting that they keep the pair safe and comfortable by covering them in darkness. The envoy declares that she will live on in his poetry forever.
